Theos-Talk Archives (April 2007 Message tt00120)

Sogyal Rinpoche writes in "The Tibetan Book of Living and
Dying" (HarperCollins, 1994):

"During the first weeks of the bardo, we have the impression that we
are a man or woman, just as in our previous life. We do not realize
that we are dead. We return home to meet our family and loved ones.
We try to talk to them, to touch them on the shoulder. But they do
not reply, or even show they are aware we are there. As hard as we
try, nothing can make them notice us. We watch, powerless, as they
weep or sit stunned and heartbroken over our death. Fruitlessly we
try to make use of our belongings. Our place is no longer laid at the 
table, and arrangements are being made to disposeof our possessions. 
We feel angry, hurt, and frustrated, 'like a fish', says the Tibetan 
Book of the Dead, 'writhing in hot sand.'"

Now compare the above with what H.P. Blavatsky writes in "The Key to 
Theosophy" (first ed., 1889):

'A mother dies, leaving behind her little helpless children -- 
orphans whom she adores -- perhaps a beloved husband also. We say 
that her "Spirit' or Ego. . .   is now entirely separated from 
the 'vale of tears,' that its future bliss consists in that blessed 
ignorance of all the woes it left behind. Spiritualists say, on the 
contrary, that it is as vividly aware of them, and more so than 
before, for 'Spirits see more than mortals in the flesh do.' . . . 
According to their [spiritualists'] doctrine, unfortunate man is not 
liberated even by death from the sorrows of this life. Not a drop 
from the life-cup of pain and suffering will miss his lips; and 
nolens volens, since he sees everything now, shall he drink it to the 
bitter dregs. Thus, the loving wife, who during her lifetime was 
ready to save her husband sorrow at the price of her heart's blood, 
is now doomed to see, in utter helplessness, his despair, and to 
register every hot tear he sheds for her loss. . . . [But according 
to the esoteric teaching] the spirit is dazed after death and falls 
very soon into what we call "pre-devachanic unconsciousness." . . . ."

Daniel
http://hpb.cc